What da f***!! – SeaDemon Says

May 1, 2022

The Sea Is Vast

A MMEA personnel keeps a watch on the boat carrying 143 illegal immigrants near Kuala Kurau

A boat carrying 143 illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, including 134 Rohingya, was detained by authorities after it ran aground on a sand bar six nautical miles off Kuala Kurau, Perak yesterday. Almost immediately criticisms were leveled especially at the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and at other agencies for their failure to detect their presence in our waters.

Truth be told, the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) are among the busiest sea lanes in the world. Because of the nature of the straits, they come under Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Even the borders overlap each other depending on whose chart you are looking at while an average of 274 commercial vessels ply through on a daily basis, 66 being container ships alone.

Therefore, maritime authorities of each country keep a close eye on these vessels for both security and safety reasons. The MMEA has an elaborate radar surveillance system deployed throughout the country. Suffice to say that nothing goes unnoticed especially in the Strait of Malacca.

So, how did a boat with 143 illegal immigrants got to within six nautical miles before they were detained?

Two weeks ago the MMEA commenced Op Khas Pagar Laut aimed at further tightening our maritime borders during the Hari Raya Aidil Fitri festive season. In just a week, the operations has resulted in 32 vessels being detained resulting in seizures worth around RM10.6 million. 66 crewmen from seven Vietnamese fishing boats and 16 illegal immigrants were arrested before the arrival of this batch of 143.

With the commencement of the operations, the dragnet in waters off Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Perlis and Langkawi which are the favourite arrival spots for Bangladeshi and Rohingya illegal immigrants is tightened and almost impossible to get through.

Now that the waters there are off-limits, human smugglers then have to plan to deposit their human cargo farther south. All they had to do was to sail south skirting close to our 12-nautical mile limit, assuming the right to innocent passage, to a point before the strait narrows where another dragnet to prevent smugglers and illegal immigrants from Indonesia from entering.

And as long as they traversed the sea without entering our territorial waters, prejudicing our peace, good order, welfare and safety, they had the right to innocent passage.

The authorities were alerted the moment they digressed from their track and breached our 12-nautical mile limit at 4am, making for Kuala Kurau. Sending a boat out to intercept them at this juncture would prove detrimental as these smugglers are not without land-based informers watching the authorities. It would have taken almost 20 minutes for the boat to be intercepted, and before that could happen the boat would have been informed and have made its way back beyond our waters.

It was wise of the authorities to have waited until the boat had reached a point of no return before going out to intercept, and the effort was made easier due to the grounding of the boat on a sandbar. This is called ‘working smartly.’

Of course it would have been better for the MMEA to just deny them entry into our waters. That way we do not have to spend taxpayers money on illegal immigrants. But the Agency suffers from two critical things: criticism of such action by our own people in the past, and the lack of assets to do so.

To protect our people at the beginning of the pandemic our security forces were instructed to repair boats of illegal immigrants, provision them with fuel, food and water and make sure they leave our waters. The policy was very necessary then as it would take a year more before we started our vaccination program. But we were heavily criticised by human rights groups and, sadly, a small but media-social influential group among our own people.

MMEA personnel from the Kuala Kurau Maritime Zone transfer drinking water to the boat carrying 143 illegal immigrants

We have never been without a heart. As mentioned, we provided these boats with enough fuel, food and water to last them more than a month, and even facilitated repairs. And because we have a heart we now have to spend another RM5,800 a day for food for the 143 recently-arrived illegal immigrants on top of the RM6.3 million that we spend daily just for food for the other 158,000. That comes to RM190 million a month on meals.

That amount equals to 3,386 PPRT homes for the low-income group – per month. And we spend that much on illegal immigrants. I have not factored in medical treatment costs, lodging, utilities and other costs as well. But that is okay as long as we satisfy a small group of people who champion the rights of illegal immigrants.

The MMEA has been operating for 17 years with limited resources because lawmakers in the Parliament do not understand the law they passed to create the MMEA. The government also lacks the political will to enforce this Act. As a result, the Agency now suffers from limited budget as it has to share whatever limited resources that has been given, with the 11 maritime-related agencies that should have been dissolved with the formation of the MMEA. Majority of its patrol boats are more than 40 years old.

In terms of waters to cover, each of the MMEA’s 180 small patrol boats has a 180 sq km to patrol while each of the 70 larger vessels cover 5,675 sq km.

In short, each of the 4,500 men and women of the MMEA has 124 sq km of waters to guard, protect and save.

In spite of that, in its 17-year existence the MMEA has contributed more than RM2.7 billion to the government’s coffers in terms of seizures, saved more than 10,000 lives and RM650 million worth in assets. It has to protect the same area that the Royal Malaysian Navy has to which is 556,285 sq km. Yet, the Royal Malaysian Navy received RM1.6 billion last year while the MMEA received only a fraction of that.

Therefore, given the dire limitations that the MMEA has and compare this to its achievements, the MMEA is a force to be reckoned with, thus should be supported in its never-ending struggle to acquire more assets and train more men and women in order to become a better organisation.

Imagine what it could become with the RM2.3 billion we spend a year feeding illegal immigrants had the amount been given to the MMEA instead.

The boat carrying 143 illegal immigrants coming alongside the Kuala Kurau jetty

March 16, 2022

Know Your Place

The Johor State Constitution governs everything about the running of the state

TWO things are often mentioned by Umno hardliners when asked about the grand old party’s traits. One is that it is united; two is that it is one with the palace.

Nothing could be farther than the truth.

The Barisan Nasional’s second thumping victory was followed by several hours of bragging rights. Only DAP was able to look at its wounds and lick them.

The rest of the Pakatan Harapan coalition members were literally pulverised. Even Perikatan Nasional, the coalition with which some quarters within Umno describe as having an uneasy coalition, was pummelled into the ground.

Among the things claimed by Umno was that it won because it could name its next and 19th Menteri Besar for Johor – Datuk Seri Utama Haji Hasni bin Mohammad.

Hasni was Johor’s 18th Menteri Besar, whose tenure was known for its stability despite having a razor-thin margin over the state’s opposition. Hasni treated all 56 assemblymen equally and even provided equal allocations, other than being a model inclusive leader. Naturally voters would want the same formula to be continued.

The result was the 40-seat victory for Barisan Nasional last Saturday.

Then came the shocking news: the palace wanted another name as the next Menteri Besar – Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

The 43-year old is the great-great grandson of Johor’s first Menteri Besar, Datuk Jaafar bin Haji Muhammad, and grandson of the 3rd Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Hussein bin Datuk Onn.

And what usually comes after shock? Denial, followed by anger. And when Umno supporters get angry, they become irrational, and the anger is then directed towards the Istana for what they deem as “meddling’. But was the palace meddling?

The way I see it is that Umno had committed a mistake by naming a Menteri Besar, turning him into a poster boy, ahead of the palace. As a grand old party, Umno should have known better than to usurp the constitutional right of the Sultan.

Article 3 (1) of the Johor State Constitution (Part 2) states that the Ruler shall appoint in writing, a qualified Malay and Muslim Menteri Besar who meets the prerequisites Article 4 (2) (1) of the said Constitution. This in turn states that the person to become the Menteri Besar has to be a member of the Dewan who, in the Ruler’s judgment, commands the most support of members of the Dewan.

It clearly states there that the prerogative to appoint a Menteri Besar is the prerogative of the Ruler. This is replicated on the Federal level by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong when appointing a Prime Minister (and Chief Ministers, as delegated to the governors). The Ruler is the Chief Executive Officer of the nation/state while the PM and MB are the Chief Operating Officers. Ours is not a government by the people and for the people. We are not the United States of America.

The PM/MBs are then given the executive powers to administer the Federal/respective State governments on behalf of the Rulers, save for a few provisions, including the choosing and appointing of prime ministers and menteris besar which remain as royal prerogatives. As a word of caution, these prerogatives come with fundamental principles.

The Federal/State Constitution is supreme. Where there is conflict between the Constitution and the royal prerogative, the Constitution prevails. The royal prerogative remains subject to the duties of fairness and reason. And although the prerogatives can be abolished or abrogated, they can only be done with the expressed permission of the Rulers Council.

And Johor isn’t the only state in recent times where the palace has rejected the winning party’s choice of a state COO. Perlis rejected Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim in 2008 and named Md Isa Sabu instead.

This had put the former at loggerheads with the palace that led to Shahidan’s brother getting rejected in 2018.

Terengganu rejected Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh in 2008, and we saw some banners carried by palace friendly Umno supporters equating the Ruler to animals. Selangor rejected Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in 2014 as its Menteri Besar to replace Khalid Ibrahim as a result of the “Kajang move”; A year before that, the nomination of Datu Husam Musa as a state executive councillor was rejected by the Kelantan palace.

What then is our duty during an election?

Our only duty is to choose, from amongst us, those whom we believe can represent us well in His Majesty’s government. As such, when we complain about stupid politicians having made it into the august house, we only have ourselves as voters to blame.

We put them there, or we did not do enough to prevent them from getting there.

Therefore, coming back to Johor’s predicament, the Ruler has chosen the person who, in the Ruler’s judgment, has the most support of the members of Johor’s Dewan.

Although there is a move by Umno that allegedly has collected 38 signatures from its elected members to support Hasni as Umno’s choice of the incoming MB, that really shows that UMNO or whoever it is behind that move, does not know its or his place. Even Hasni has come out to tell everyone to give this opportunity to his younger successor.

Looking at the bigger picture, the choice of a younger MB for Johor is apt at this juncture given that it is Johor that will ascend the throne of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in January of 2024.

The Tunku Mahkota of Johor will be acting as the Regent during that period. A young MB will not only be able to match the dynamics of a young Ruler, but also reduces the chances of a senior and more experienced politician who might think that he knows better than the Ruler.

If Umno really has the balls and thinks that it can do without the Ruler’s support and try the Johor’s voters’ resolve, its elected representatives can perhaps try to stage a walkout when Onn Hafiz is being sworn-in to show that he does not have their support.

(This article was first published by The Mole

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022

Bila Radio Karat Berbunyi

Eksesais Maritim Perkasa 2022 menguji kecekapan kerjasama di antara unit-unit di bawah Agensi Penguatkuasaan Maritim Malaysia (APMM)

Bila kita bercerita mengenai pasukan keselamatan dan angkatan tentera, acap kali akan kedengaran suara-suara sumbang yang mempersoalkan sama ada bentuk pengoperasian mahupun perolehan aset-aset pasukan-pasukan tersebut.

Terkini merupakan cuitan bekas Timbalan Ketua Pengarang Utusan Malaysia, Zaini Hassan, dalam ruangan Cuit…Zaini Hassan.

Dalam ruangan tersebut beliau telah mempersoalkan tindakan APMM yang dikatakan boros kerana menggerakkan aset-aset ke luar kawasan semata-mata untuk menyambut Hari Ulangtahun APMM Ke-17 pada 15 Februari 2022.

Sebanyak 10 buah kapal peronda, 5 buah aset udara dan 7 buah bot pemintas telah digerakkan ke luar pesisir pantai negeri Selangor.

Kata Zaini, beliau bimbang dengan “ketiadaan” kapal-kapal seperti KM Pekan dan KM Arau di kawasan masing-masing, sindiket penyeludupan migran dan pendatang asing akan menggunakan peluang itu untuk membolosi perairan negara.

Malah, kata beliau lagi, lebih membimbangkan ialah penyusupan elemen-elemen yang tidak dikehendaki, terutamanya dari selatan Filipina.

Zaini hanya membincangkan mengenai sambutan Hari Ulangtahun yang kononnya meriah itu. Hari yang diberi tumpuannya itu hanyalah satu hari dari sejumlah lapan hari aset-aset tersebut diaturgerak, dan adalah hari terakhir sebuah latihan menguji kecekapan para anggota dan aset-aset APMM yang diberi nama Eksesais Maritim Perkasa.

Eksesais yang dimulakan dengan Tabletop Exercise seharian dan enam hari latihan-latihan di laut yang menguji kecekapan pengendalian pesawat, bot pemintas dan kapal-kapal peronda dalam beberapa situasi termasuk memadam kebakaran kapal, operasi anti-lanun, pendaratan helikopter di geladak kapal serta pendaratan pesawat sayap kaku di laut untuk mengambil air bagi tujuan memadamkan kebakaran.

Ianya juga memberi peluang buat komander-komander muda kapal-kapal peronda serta pegawai navigasi dan pegawai komunikasi berlatih cara-cara untuk mengkoordinasikan kapal peronda masing-masing dengan lain-lain kapal peronda dan aset-aset udara.

Kesemua latihan di atas bukannya boleh dilakukan ikut suka hati semasa menjalankan tugas-tugas harian. Contoh: KM Arau yang berpangkalan di pantai barat Sabah. Lokasinya yang jauh dari aset-aset udara yang berpangkalan di Semenanjung. Jika latihan ini tidak diadakan, maka anggota geladak penerbangan kapal tersebut akan tumpul pengetahuan mereka, manakala anggota yang baharu langsung tidak berpeluang untuk memperbaharui dan mempertingkatkan pengetahuan mereka dalam operasi pelbagai aset.

Itu baru satu contoh. Banyak contoh-contoh lain yang memberi manfaat besar kepada para anggota APMM terlibat yang boleh saya ceritakan. Pokok-pangkalnya, di sinilah peluang untuk APMM mengenalpasti kelemahan prosedur dan pengetahuan, dan memperbaikinya dalam taklimat oleh Pengarah Eksesais untuk semua komander selepas latihan setiap hari.

“Kehilangan” sebanyak 10 buah kapal dari lapangan rondaan masing-masing sebenarnya tidak memberi kesan terhadap keselamatan negara. APMM mempunyai 70 buah kapal peronda dan hampir 200 buah bot pemintas.

Pembolosan perairan oleh pendatang Rohingya yang berlaku tidak lama dahulu bukannya disebabkan mereka berjaya memperbodohkan APMM, tetapi bot mereka karam di luar perairan dan mereka berenang ke pulau-pulau yang berhampiran dengan Pulau Langkawi.

Bagi pendatang atau pengganas yang cuba menyusup masuk dari Selatan Filipina ke perairan timur Sabah, mungkin penulis tersebut lupa bahawa kawasan timur Sabah adalah di bawah pengawasan ESSCOM dan bukannya di bawah APMM semata-mata. Mungkin faktor usia sebab tak mungkin beliau ini suka-suka mereka-reka cerita.

Agak musykil hanya apa yang digambarkan sebagai kelemahan yang dicanangkan seolah-olah untuk menghasut rakyat membenci APMM. Kenapa tidak diceritakan juga pencapaian agensi tersebut?

Sepanjang tahun 2021, APMM telah membuat hampir 212,000 pemeriksaan ke atas kapal-kapal dan bot-bot. 26,000 penggeledahan dibuat di mana lebih 1,100 tangkapan dibuat. Ini membawa hasil sebanyak RM46 juta daripada denda dan kompaun, RM6 juta hasil lelongan dan RM55 juta nilai barangan yang dirampas. Ada penulis tersebut ceritakan perihal ini?

Berbalik kepada Eksesais Maritim Perkasa, APMM mengambil kesempatan untuk adakan latihan ini hampir kepada hari ulangtahunnya supaya hari terakhir latihan jatuh pada hari ulangtahunnya. Ini membolehkan APMM mempertontonkan keupayaannya kepada pihak media yang dijemput hadir. Ini bertujuan untuk memperkukuhkan kepercayaan rakyat terhadap agensi yang menjaga kedaulatan wilayah maritim negara ini.

Paling penting, dengan menyambut hari ulangtahunnya semasa latihan dijalankan mengurangkan kos sambutan berbanding dengan sekiranya kos sambutan hari ulangtahun terpaksa diadakan secara berasingan. Dalam prinsip peperangan, ini dinamakan economy of effort.

Susah kalau setiap perkara yang baik itu dilihat secara negatif tanpa mengetahui tujuan perkara itu diadakan. Sepatutnya kita lebih berfikiran terbuka dan bukannya jumud seperti ini, apatah lagi sebagai seorang Islam yang beriman dengan Al-Quran, kerana selaras dengan surah Al-Anfal ayat 60, di mana Allah S.W.T. mengingatkan supaya kita kita sentiasa bersiap sedia bagi menghadapi musuh-musuh, menurut kemampuan dengan segala kekuatan dan barisan kuda (menurut keadaan zaman) bagi menakutkan musuh Allah dan musuh-musuh kita serta musuh-musuh yang kita tidak ketahui.

Orang bukan Islam pun percayakan konsep persediaan untuk berperang melalui kata-kata dalam bahasa Latin iaitu si vis pacem, para bellum (jika anda inginkan keamanan, bersedialah untuk berperang).

Oleh itu, elok kalau bekas Timbalan Ketua Pengarang Utusan Malaysia tersebut rajin bertanya-tanya, dapatkan kepastian sebelum tembak melulu seperti Red Indian dapat senapang.

Sesungguhnya, malu bertanya sesat jalan, malu berkayuh perahu hanyut. Jangan marah, ya! Kita pun boleh cuit juga.

September 21, 2021

An Apology Does Not Equal Exoneration

MANY asked me about Tun Haniff Omar’s apology to Lim Kit Siang as read from an agreed text made in the court yesterday.

The apology was made for a remark made in a forum organised by Sinar Harian that the Member of Parliament was responsible for and had the intention to direct DAP to separate or divide Peninsular Malaysia into two parts based on race, and intended to sow discord between the Malay and Chinese communities.

Malay apologists were quick to jump the gun claiming that Malaysians had been duped into thinking that Kit Siang was involved in inciting the various races in the country that led to the May 13 tragedy.

The apology was not about that at all.

Let me reiterate in all fairness, that Lim Kit Siang did not utter those said words.

I was made to understand that they were the words of another politician who was also arrested for sedition after the tragedy, as was Lim Kit Siang who was arrested for other reasons.

When the movie Tanda Putera was shown, many pro-Malay bloggers said it was Lim Kit Siang who was involved in a scene depicting a group of non-Malays who urinated at the base of a flag pole.

I wrote on my blog that that scene did not involve Kit Siang, as he was arrested in Kota Kinabalu and was not in Kuala Lumpur when that and the rioting happened.

In fact, it was almost two months to the day of the tragedy that Kit Siang was arrested under Section 11(2)(b) of the Internal Security Act, 1960 for six offences under the Act ranging from 27 July 1968 in Tanjung Malim where he claimed that the education policy was designed to achieve an eventual extermination of Chinese newspapers, Chinese schools and Chinese languages, to an incident on May 13 1969 at a rally at Kampung Air in Kota Kinabalu where he said that the government was trying to have a Malay Malaysia by dividing the people into bumiputera and non-bumiputer, that “the Malays were first class Bumiputera” and that the government was carrying out a policy of “Malaysiation” of Sabah whereby all top post were held by the Malays.

He was also alleged to have stirred anti-Malay and anti-Islamic religious feelings by telling the audience at Kampung Air that the government was pursuing the policy of exploitation by Malays of other races and that the government, by holding an International Islamic Conference in Kuala Lumpur, had intended to send Malaysian citizens to die in the Middle East in order to capture Jerusalem for the Muslim World (Jerusalem was captured by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War).

Kit Siang had only offered explanations for the inciting speeches he made, but I never saw any apology made for saying those things.

So, no. Yesterday’s apology should not be misconstrued into an exoneration of Lim Kit Siang’s guilt of fanning the sentiments that led to the May13 1969 tragedy.

It was only to underscore the fact that Kit Siang did not utter those words and was arrested because of that as mentioned by Tun Haniff.

(this article first appeared on The Mole )

August 24, 2021

Setia, Disiplin dan Pengorbanan Itu Jiwa Tentera

*Ikrar Kesatria merupakan ikrar dan janji yang dilafazkan* oleh
setiap warga lain-lain pangkatAngkatan Tentera Malaysia

Dengan lafaz ikrar seperti gambar di atas, cap sebanyak sepuluh ruas jari diperturunkan ke atas sekeping borang. Bakal perajurit Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM) tersebut akan serahkan Kad Pengenalan Awam kepada Pegawai Pengambilan, dan beliau akan diberikan satu nombor pengenalan iaitu nombor tentera yang akan digunakan sepanjang perkhidmatan beliau. Dari saat ikrar tersebut dilafazkan, beliau bukan lagi seorang awam sebagaimana beliau lima minit sebelumnya.

Tidak banyak beza Ikrar Perajurit ATM dan Ikrar Perwira yang dilafazkan oleh para pegawai ATM, cuma para pegawai melafazkan ikrar taat setia Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong atau mana-mana Raja Melayu yang mewakili baginda. Pegawai ATM dalah ditauliahkan oleh Seri Paduka Baginda dan adalah para pegawai Seri Paduka Baginda. Anggota lain-lain pangkat adalah tiang yang menyokong, mendokong dan menjunjung titah perintah Seri Paduka Baginda melalui para pegawai tersebut.

Sepanjang perkhidmatan baik seorang anggota mahupun pegawai ATM adalah tertakluk bukan sahaja kepada Akta Angkatan Tentera, 1972 yang menjadi garis panduan mengawal selia hidup seorang warga ATM, tetapi juga kepada sesetengah akta awam yang terpakai kepada warga ATM.

ATM, sebagaimana lain-lain pasukan seragam, adalah mengenai keseragaman. Cara berjalan, cara bertutur, cara melipat baju, cara menyidai pakaian, cara seterika baju, cara menukil surat – kesemuanya diseragamkan kerana ATM, tidak kira Darat, Laut mahupun Udara adalah merupakan satu badan yang mempunyai disiplin yang tinggi. Garis umur bukan lagi menjadi pengukur tetapi calit di lengan, atau paku, mahkota dan bintang di bahu yang menjadi simbol pengaturan pemerintahan. Disiplin menjadi pendorongnya yang memacu organisasi besar ini mempertahankan kedaulatan negara serta seluruh warga Malaysia. Disiplinlah yang menjadi kuasa yang mengikat setiap pegawai dan anggota sebagai satu badan.

Setelah tamat latihan, seorang Perajurit akan lalui pelbagai latihan kemahiran mengikut ketukangan dan pengkhususan beliau. Kemudian beliau akan dinaikkan pangkat ke Lans Korporal di mana beliau menjadi pembantu ketua sebuah seksyen. Kemudian beliau akan dinaikkan pangkat ke Korporal dan menjadi ketua sebuah seksyen yang lazimnya mempunyai 10 orang anggota. Apabila beliau dinaikkan ke pangkat Sarjan, beliau menjadi seorang penasihat kepada Ketua Platun yang berpangkat Leftenan Muda atau Leftenan dan bertanggungjawab ke atas penugasan, disiplin, pentadbiran dan kebajikan 30 orang anggota. Segala arahan beliau adalah mewakili Ketua Platun tersebut – dan merupakan suatu tanggungjawab yang besar.

Maafkan saya kerana bercerita dengan panjang lebar mengenai organisasi tentera, tetapi ianya adalah penting agar anda faham apa maksud disiplin, hormat kepada tradisi dan taat setia kepada Raja dan Negara dalam ATM.

Bila seorang Sarjan enggan mengambil vaksin COVID-19, bertentangan dengan perintah tetap dan arahan pihak atasan, maka runtuhlah disiplin. Tiada lagi rasa hormat kepada tradisi tentera, dan tidak lagi taat kepada Raja dan Negara. Tak perlulah saya beri gambaran atau gelaran atau bincang mengenai hukuman yang telah dijatuhkan ke atas Sarjan tersebut kerana sekiranya anda baca setiap perkataan yang telah saya tulis di atas, anda mungkin faham bahawa disiplin itu amat penting dalam organisasi ATM.

Dua bulan yang lepas, sebuah kapal Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia tidak dapat dioperasikan kerana 98 orang anak kapal kapal tersebut didapati positif COVID-19. Selama lebih kurang dua minggu sebuah kapal yang dalam keadaan baik tidak dapat digunakan untuk mengawal perairan negara kerana tularnya penyakit tersebut di dalamnya. Tahun lepas, sebuah kapal pengangkut pesawat Amerika Syarikat, USS Theodore Roosevelt tidak dapat dioperasikan setelah penularan wabak COVID-19 dikesan di kalangan anak-anak kapalnya. Akibatnya, tentera laut China telah mengambil kesempatan kepincangan tersebut untuk memperkukuhkan kedudukannya di Laut China Selatan. Bayangkan sebuah batalion Tentera Darat (1,000 orang lebih) terpaksa dikuarantin dan tidak dapat diberi penugasan sekiranya Sarjan tersebut mendapat penyakit tersebut dan didapati positif semasa berada di dalam kem, atau beliau dengan tidak sengaja tularkan kepada kaum keluarga anggota lain terutamanya anak-anak kecil di kompleks Rumah Keluarga Angkatan Tentera.

Bayangkan juga sekiranya Sarjan ini ditugaskan untuk mengawal Sekatan Jalan Raya dan sudah positif semasa anda ditahan untuk pemeriksaan oleh beliau, dan di dalam kenderaan anda adalah ibubapa yang sudah berumur atau anak kecil kesayangan anda yang tidak boleh diberi vaksin.

Setia kepada Negara dan sanggup berkorban kerananya adalah merupakan ikrar yang dilafazkan oleh setia Perajurit. Negara kini dalam mod berperang dengan musuh yang tidak dapat dilihat. Ini memerlukan setiap warga ATM disuntik vaksin sebagai pelindung semasa menjalankan tugas. Pengambilan vaksin ini juga penting untuk negara capai imuniti berkelompok agar dapat kita pulihkan semula keadaan ekonomi sendiri dan juga negara. Sekiranya seorang frontliner seperti Sarjan ini enggan menerima vaksin, bagaimana beliau mahu melindungi rakyat jika dirinya sendiri tidak dilindungi? Kenapa di saat negara memerlukan pengorbanan beliau seperti dalam lafaz ikrar, beliau enggan berkorban untuk negara? Kalau perkara sekecil ini pun sudah begini sikapnya, bagaimana pula kalau musuh melanggar negara?

Alasan-alasan yang diberikan beliau langsung tidak masuk akal. Menggunakan kenyataan Menteri Kesihatan atau Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan kononnya sebagai pematuhan beliau kepada arahan adalah satu alasan yang dangkal. Kedua-dua orang yang disebutkan tadi tidak ada dalam aturcara saluran pemerintahan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia. Pematuhan seratus-peratus adalah terhadap perintah yang dikeluarkan melalui saluran Angkatan Tentera Malaysia. Kementerian Kesihatan bukan pihak berkuasa atasan beliau dalam ATM. Sebagai seorang yang berpengalaman dan anggota berpangkat tinggi, fikiran dan alasan tersebut hanya layak dikeluarkan oleh orang yang tidak pernah masuk tentera.

Hak seorang warga ATM tidak sama dengan hak lain-lain rakyat Malaysia. Bahkan, Akta Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerja, 1994 juga tidak terpakai terhadap warga ATM kerana bercanggah dengan keperluan operasi ATM itu sendiri. Setiap warga tentera itu perlu meletakkan diri menghadapi segala mara bahaya demi negara, maka tidak wujud “hak tubuh badan” dan sebagainya selagi beliau masih dalam perkhidmatan Seri Paduka Baginda. Sepertimana kata Presiden Persatuan Veteran ATM Datuk Sharuddin Omar, “Sekiranya keingkaran perintah atau arahan yang dilakukannya tidak diambil tindakan dan dibendung maka ia boleh mempengaruhi rakan-rakan yang lain, dan ini akan menjejaskan moral dan semangat keseluruhan organisasi bukan sahaja di unit dia bertugas malah di seluruh organisasi ATM.”

Kalau warga tentera boleh memilih, mahukah anda tatkala musuh menyerang negara, ada di kalangan warga ATM yang bangun dan berkata, “Saya tak mau lawan. Saya tak mahu mati. Ini hak saya, tubuh badan saya” atau “Kami nak undi dulu siapa hendak berperang atau tidak?” Rosak dan musnahlah organisasi yang digelar Angkatan Tentera Malaysia.

June 18, 2021

If You Want To Say Something, Don’t Use Someone Else’s Name

*The message that was spread in various WhatsApp groups*

A message went viral saying that former IGP Tun Haniff Omar had asked MPs from UMNO, PPBM and PAS to not give support to PKR’s raison d’être, Anwar Ibrahim.

Tun Haniff Omar has denied being the author of this message and has lodged a police report at the Section 6 Police Station in Shah Alam at 5.30pm on Friday 18 June 2021.

If you want to write something be it true or false, use your own name or your own nom de plume. Stop being a coward.

*Tun Haniff Omar lodging a report at the Section 6 Police Station in Shah Alam*

June 7, 2021June 7, 2021

Surat Terbuka Untuk Charles Santiago: Ahli Parlimen Lorong Tikus

*Ahli Parlimen DAP Kawasan Klang ini lebih gemar pentingkan kesejahteraan PATI berbanding keselamatan dan kesejahteraan rakyat Malaysia sendiri*

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia yang menjunjung keluhuran perlembagaan dan kedaulatan undang-undang, saya tidak faham kenapa Ahli Parlimen Klang, YB Charles Santiago beriya-iya untuk membela individu yang masuk secara haram ke dalam negara tanpa ada dokumen?

Walaupun saya mengambil kira hak asasi migran sama ada yang berdokumen ataupun tidak untuk melangsungkan kehidupan, saya berpendapat hak asasi rakyat Malaysia untuk dilindungi dari sebarang gejala yang buruk, baik dari aspek sosial, moral, keselamatan mahupun kesihatan. Dengan itu, saya lebih cenderung untuk berpihak dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri serta beratus ribu petugas barisan hadapan agensi-agensi di bawah KDN yang saban hari menghadap makian dan cercaan rakyat Malaysia yang sudah muak dengan perangai migran tanpa dokumen (PATI).

Kenyataan YB Charles Santiago dari DAP yang mempersoalkan ketegasan Menteri Dalam Negeri serta agensi-agensi di bawah naungan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) dalam menangani isu ini adalah satu kenyataan yang bukan sahaja bodoh, malahan ianya juga satu kenyataan yang tidak patriotik.

Sebagai Ahli Parlimen, bukankah sepatutnya YB Charles Santiago turut bersama menegakkan undang-undang dan mendahulukan kepentingan rakyat Malaysia daripada semua aspek. Bukankah itu sumpah yang YB lafaz semasa menjadi seorang Ahli Parlimen, iaitu berikrar akan taat setia kepada Malaysia serta memelihara, melindungi dan mempertahankan Perlembagaan Persekutuan? Bukankah itu bermakna YB berjanji akan mendaulatkan undang-undang negara yang dibuat di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia dan bukan Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Rohingya dan sebagainya?

Tidakkah YB Charles Santiago ini tahu bahawa tidak ada negara di dunia ini yang menghalalkan pendatang tanpa izin terutama sekali pendatang ekonomi. Saya cabar YB Charles Santiago untuk namakan satu sahaja negara yang mengalu-alukan kemasukan pendatang asing ke dalam negara mereka secara haram.

Malah, Netherlands yang menduduki tempat pertama dalam senarai negara paling menghormati hak asasi manusia juga telah memperkenalkan Skim Insurans Kebangsaan yang tidak meliputi PATI di negara tersebut. Langkah ini sekaligus menafikan hak PATI di negara tersebut untuk mendapatkan faedah sosial. Netherlands juga mempunyai Linkage Act, 1998: satu Akta yang menyulitkan PATI di sana untuk mendapatkan rawatan di hospital; mereka tidak boleh diberi perlindungan insurans; malah kerajaan Netherlands juga tidak bertanggung jawab di atas kos perubatan mereka.

Di sini, kita telah memperkenalkan program Rekalibrasi Tenaga Kerja sejak bulan November 2020 dan sepatutnya berakhir pada penghujung bulan ini. Kalau mereka ini berdaftar, mereka layak dilindungi di bawah Skim Bencana Kerja Pekerja Asing oleh PERKESO. Sudahlah dia PATI, kita berbaik hati nak jadikan mereka pekerja migran yang sah, lakukan saringan COVID-19 ke atas mereka, tawarkan mereka peluang pekerjaan dengan syarat mereka mendaftar dan membayar kompaun.

Tak cukup dengan itu, kita sediakan pula skim perlindungan di bawah PERKESO lagi yang akan memberi mereka faedah perlindungan. Bukankah itu menandakan bahawa kerajaan Malaysia amat baik hati serta prihatin terhadap mereka?

Sudah tujuh bulan program ini berlangsung, kenapa masih ada yang tidak mahu keluar mendaftar dan lebih gemar ke sana-sini sambil berpotensi menjadi penyebar penyakit berjangkit terutamanya COVID-19?

Kita mempunyai perundangan yang jelas mengenai PATI dan kita perlu menguatkuasakan undang-undang yang telah dibuat.

Sekiranya PATI tidak perlu diambil tindakan undang-undang maka sia-sia sahajalah undang-undang yang dibentangkan di parlimen. Baik kita buka sahaja semua pintu sempadan kita dan benarkan mereka masuk atas nama hak asasi manusia.

Berbalik kepada isu, Menteri Dalam Negeri dah jelaskan, keutamaan vaksinasi adalah terhadap rakyat Malaysia terlebih dahulu.

Persoalannya, selepas rakyat kita divaksinasi, bagaimanakah kita mahu pastikan golongan PATI yang selama ini menyorok di penempatan- penempatan haram ini akan tampil sukarela mendaftar untuk dapatkan vaksin. Tujuh bulan program Rekalibrasi Tenaga Kerja yang menjanjikan perlindungan yang lebih baik buat mereka pun mereka tidak endahkan.

Kalau ikut kebijaksanaan YB Charles Santiago dan 13 lagi Ahli Parlimen Pembangkang yang kononnya berpegang dengan prinsip kemanusiaan, YB-YB ini yakin bahawa mereka akan tampil kehadapan jika Kerajaan tidak ambil tindakan terhadap mereka. Tapi apa jaminannya? Tiada! Air liur sahaja! Talk is cheap, YB, and sorry, but Utopia does not exist.

Saya yakin dalam hal ini rakyat juga setuju dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri bahawa PATI ini tidak akan berani kedepan secara sukarela untuk mendapatkan vaksinasi. Kalau ada pun bilangannya terlalu sedikit.

Apa yang perlu kita lakukan dengan segera ialah dengan mengumpulkan mereka ke satu tempat dan lakukan ujian swab test. Ini hanya boleh dilaksanakan melalui operasi penguatkuasaan PATI secara bersepadu oleh JIM, PDRM, JPN, dan KKM.

Komuniti PATI ini adalah time-bomb. Mereka ini tidak pergi ke klinik jika ada gejala dan tidak buat swabtest walaupun mereka tahu mereka adalah kontak rapat. Dan mereka bergerak tanpa dikesan di kalangan rakya yang begitu cermat menjaga SOP agar tidak dijangkiti.

Mereka ini tiada majikan dan bebas bergaul bersama rakyat tempatan di tempat awam. Tidak wajar mereka diberikan kelonggaran dan tidak diambil tindakan. Itu adalah tindakan tidak berpelembagaan dan tidak bermaruah.

Enough is enough. Sudahlah YB Charles Santiago. Utamakan rakyat Malaysia. Jangan terhegeh-hegeh mahu bela golongan PATI. Bila tiba PRU nanti, mohon YB naik sampan pergi ke laut, rayu undi daripada mereka.

Yang sudah meluat,

Kapten (Bersara) Abdul Rahmat Omar

Rakyat Malaysia

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021

Darurat? Kenapa Tidak PKP?

Dulu kita dapat meratakan graf penularan wabak COVID-19 hanya dengan PKP tanpa perlu isytihar darurat sebab pada 18 Mac 2020, jumlah terkumpul kes COVID-19 ialah sebanyak 790 kes, kes baharu sebanyak 117 kes, 728 orang sedang dirawat dan purata kes sehari bagi 10 hari ialah 82.625 kes.

Kerajaan kerugian RM2.4 billion setiap hari semasa PKP dikuatkuasakan.

Kemudian kita laksanakan PKPP dan benarkan rakyat Malaysia teruskan dengan kehidupan dengan mematuhi norma baharu.

Shafie Apdal mengambil langkah drastik tidak menunggu keputusan mahkamah dan berjaya mendapat persetujuan TYT Gabenor Sabah untuk membubarkan DUN Sabah untuk memberi laluan kepada PRN Sabah walaupun terdapat banyak bantahan akibat khuatir kes COVID-19 akan naik mendadak.

Pada 13 September 2020, 13 hari sebelum PRN Sabah, Ahli Parlimen DAP Teresa Kok persoal cadangan kerajaan untuk kuarantin individu yang pulang dari berkempen dan mengundi di Sabah ( https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/542448 ).

Ada yang bertanya kenapa perlunya darurat sekarang sedangkan pada 18 Mac 2020 kita laksanakan PKP dan berjaya mendatarkan graf?

Jawapannya ialah keadaan tidak lagi sama. Jumlah terkumpul kes COVID-19 ialah 144,518. 2,985 kes baharu berbanding 117. 32,377 orang sedang dirawat berbanding 728 manakala jumlah kematian Ialah sebanyak 563 berbanding 2. Purata kes sehari bagi 10 hari ialah sebanyak 2,544.1 berbanding 82.625 sehari pada 18 Mac 2020.

Kita akhiri tahun 2020 dengan kadar 3,455.96 kes bagi setiap satu juta orang penduduk. Semalam (13 Januari 2021), kadarnya meningkat kepada 4,419.51 kes bagi setiap satu juta orang penduduk.

Katil-katil hospital semakin penuh. Sistem perubatan kita kini mengalami tekanan hebat. Kita tidak ada masa lagi untuk berbincang atau berdebat. Kita perlukan tindakan serta-merta.

Ada juga yang bertanggapan bahawa darurat ini diumumkan oleh Muhyiddin Yassin untuk memelihara kedudukannya sebagai Perdana Menteri. Persoalannya ialah, memandangkan kuasa eksekutif negara ini dan hak mengisytiharkan darurat adalah kuasa, hak dan mengikut budi bicara Yang di-Pertuan Agong, adakah suara-suara ini menuduh bahawa Seri Paduka itu bodoh dan hanya menjadi Pak Turut milik Perdana Menteri?

Kita baca apa yang dinyatakan dalam kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Istana Negara mengenai hal ini:

“Setelah memperhalusi penjelasan YAB Perdana Menteri dan sembah taklimat daripada Ketua Setiausaha Negara Tan Sri Mohd Zuki bin Ali; Peguam Negara Tan Sri Idrus bin Harun; Panglima Angkatan Tentera Tan Sri Haji Affendi bin Buang; Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Abdul Hamid bin Bador, Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah dan Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Datuk Abdul Ghani bin Salleh, maka Al-Sultan Abdullah berpandangan bahawa penularan wabak COVID-19 di negara ini berada di tahap yang amat kritikal dan adanya keperluan Pengisytiharan Proklamasi Darurat berdasarkan Fasal (1) Perkara 150 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Perlu dimaklumkan bahawa perkenan ini juga telah mengambil kira rundingan Seri Paduka Baginda dengan Raja-Raja Melayu.”

——————————————

Bukankah sebelum ini Muhyiddin, disokong oleh ahli-ahli Majlis Keselamatan Negara, pernah memohon agar Yang di-Pertuan Agong isytihar darurat, namun ditolak oleh Kebawah Duli Tuanku?

Keadaan di hospital-hospital kerajaan amat kritikal. Tidak bolehkah kita bendung dahulu penularan wabak ini?

Untuk yang tak sabar nak jadi Perdana Menteri, kenapa tak ambil masa 24 bulan sebelum PRU15 ini untuk berkhidmat sebenar-benarnya untuk rakyat dan menangi semula kepercayaan rakyat? Sudahkah anda pelajari sebab-sebab anda ditolak rakyat tiga tahun lepas?

November 1, 2020

UMANY: The Reincarnation of UMCLS?

IT all started with DAP’s Ronnie Liu’s posting about the movement in the Thai capital where demonstrators are up against both the government and the King of Thailand. His caption was simple but subtly seditious: “Now in Bangkok. They are saying no to the King.” Ronnie Liu’s post was to pre-empt a possible proclamation of emergency by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong following an audience with the Cabinet. The King never proclaimed an emergency and Ronnie Liu was arrested four days ago by the police and is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act for inciting hate against a Ruler or a government. He has since been released on bail.

A couple of days ago, several photos of posts made by the University of Malaya Association of New Youth (UMANY) stating that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should not interfere in national affairs made their rounds in the various social media. A photo of several people in a square showing the ‘Hunger Games’ three-finger salute caught my interest.

Firstly, in the ‘Hunger Games’ movie, the salute is a gesture to mean thanks, admiration, and goodbye to someone they love. But in Bangkok, the salute is to show anger toward the country’s royalist military establishment. It has also been flashed at royal motorcades by Thai protesters.

Secondly, some of those depicted doing the salute are those who showed no decorum during graduation ceremonies at the University of Malaya. It comes as no surprise that these people are the buds of republicanism – people with no respect for history nor the Federal Constitution.

Some photos also show them with well-known members of the DAP. They may be coincidental; but if the DAP impresses them so much, perhaps the DAP should advise them that while championing liberties, the Federal Constitution as the paramount law of the land must be respected to the dot. Unless these clueless youngsters reflect a reincarnation of another society formed within the compound of the University of Malaya, that is now defunct.

In December last year, Ronnie Liu appeared at a gathering to commemorate and glorify the butchers from the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). At the gathering the ADUN of Sungai Pelek admitted that his father was a communist and that the latter strived to free Malaya from its British ‘colonialists’.

First of all, the CPM was never interested in the independence of Malaya, and definitely, nor in democracy. Chin Peng never harboured any loyalty to Malaya. Instead, he said that, influenced by communist doctrine, he wanted to join Mao’s forces to fight a guerrilla war in China. “The same sentiments still applied…I was intending to die for my motherland, a land I had never even visited” wrote Chin Peng in 2003. It means that 14 years after the signing of the Hatyai peace agreement, Chin Peng still regarded China as his motherland (Alias Chin Peng – My Side of History, p.133, 2003). Malaya (later Malaysia) was never home to this butcher.

After withdrawing into southern Thailand following the end of the First Emergency (1948-1960), the CPM Central Committee in 1961 carried out a review of its past policies and chartered a course for the resumption of armed struggle, and spread its doctrine amongst the Thai Chinese which later dominated the 8th and 12th Regiments.

They set up Marxist-Leninist Training Schools to indoctrinate the youth, and by 1963, more than 2,000 indoctrinated youths had returned to Malaya and Singapore. In Singapore, they infiltrated the Nanyang University Students Union (NUSU). 10 days after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, the police entered the university to arrest communist leaders.

It was also during this time that communist cadres from Johor, Selangor and Perak crossed to Indonesia to be trained and armed by the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI).

Nanyang University in Singapore was not the only university that was infiltrated by communist agents. They also infiltrated the University of Malaya Chinese Language Society (UMCLS). It started in mid-1970 with a group of students calling themselves the Young Socialists planning to position themselves for the upcoming election, and in June 1971 succeeded in gaining control of the UMCLS Executive Committee as planned. The UMCLS quickly formed ancillary bodies to spread the communist doctrine. Bodies such as the Dramatic Study Sub-Committee and the Cultural Exchange Preparatory Committee were designed to launch propaganda offensive.

The CPM link to the UMCLS was confirmed on Oct 14 1973 when security forces shot dead a communist terrorist near Tanah Hitam, Chemor in Perak and found a work report by a senior student underground movement leader to his superiors on the activities conducted by the UMCLS. UMCLS manipulation of the University of Malaya Students Union (UMSU) led to the illegal students riot on Sept 21 1974.

The UMCLS also issued pamphlets claiming that the fall in rubber prices and rising cost of living had resulted in deaths due to starvation of villagers in the Baling area of Kedah. This was supported by a transmission by the Suara Revolusi Malaya radio station in Beijing condemning the Malaysian government for causing the deaths of the people of Baling.

On Dec 9 1974, police raided a house in SEA Park, Petaling Jaya that was occupied by members of the UMCLS and seized printing blocks, imitation rifles, boots, propaganda music cassettes and banners.

So, now we have the UMANY questioning the authority of person above all others in Malaysia – His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Is the UMANY, a student’s association that identifies itself with the DAP, now a revolutionary front to fight against His Majesty’s government and the people of Malaysia?

If it is, when will the authority be going to nip this cancer in the bud before the red stars of the UMCLS appear again terrorising our streets as they did 50 to 60 years ago?

This article first appeared on The Mole

October 2, 2020

The Unnecessary 260

Among the idiot politicians during the recent Sabah state election

Politicians don’t seem to have an inkling as to the reason people are angry. That’s because they’re selfish and greedy for power.

There was no real need for an election to be held in Sabah. It was the Governor’s call anyway whether or not to dissolve but only after the CM had made such a request. The request could have come only when the CM no longer has the confidence of the members of the Dewan.

There was no need to downplay the real dangers of COVID-19. But they did, and went ahead with it. They had programmes and ceramahs attended by definitely more than 250 people. No physical distancing by attendees and party people alike. Lots of handshakes.

There was no need for hundreds of campaigners from Malaya to flood Sabah to lend support. Were the Sabahans handicapped? Or were they incapable of winning the hearts and minds of voters there, in which case it underscores the notion that those parties did not have the support from local voters?

In this era of the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigns should be done digitally. And if the politicians have been doing their job, servicing the voters continually, there is no need to campaign even. And we would not have seen these 260 cases yesterday. Do you think by apologising you can cure the sick, turn back time and stop the virus from spreading?

Equally fast spreading is the IDIOT-19 virus where, again, politicians and their supporters are calling for a snap general election. If there’s anything that needs to be snapped really would be their neck that holds their redundantly empty head.